Until recently, most gas grills were built using atmospheric gas burners that mixed gas and some (primary) air and then expelled that mixture through small burner ports where additional (secondary) air was mixed by contact and ignition produced sustained flame. The heated mixture of combustion products and air was then used to heat food on open grates above the burner. Various materials in various configurations were often placed between the burner and the food to manipulate the flow of hot air, control the flow of grease and water from the food products, provide a surface for grease vaporization that would induce specific flavor in the meat product, and provide some secondary heating by radiation. An exception to this construction was the cooking system using infrared radiation patented by Willie H. Best in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,857.
In recent years, following expiration of the '857 patent, further developments in cooking systems have been made, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,666 awarded to Best, which features an infrared re-emitter between the heat source and the food. Further applications by Best have been made, including US2006/0021517 and 60/847,281, that describe two more methods of using infrared re-emitters. However, although representing many advantages over prior art, the new systems have some limitations. First, they are complex and difficult to build, requiring significant precision of manufacture. Second, by their nature they hide the burner flame, suppressing an intuitive visible indication to the operator about the state of the burner system. Third, there is no flame around the cooking meat in almost any condition, depriving the consumer of an important psychological signal of the cooking event.
One attempt to address these shortcomings has been made in the patent application of Johnston, US 2007/0125357, that uses a perforated plate with food support ribs and cooks with a mixture of convective heat and infrared radiation. The perforations in the plate allow the burner flame to be seen, and to some extent grease dripping though the perforations and igniting below the perforated plate will be visible. Furthermore, the food support ribs and the perforated plate fairly effectively suppress any flame around the food. However, this type of construction is complex and difficult to manufacture and is particularly difficult to clean of food debris trapped between the food support ribs.
What is needed is a device and method for addressing the above, and related, issues.